Look Your Best with a Good Credit Score for Buying a House & Staging for Selling or Staying

Good morning, Memphis! Welcome to our listeners across the 50 states! You’re on Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe. I’m your host, Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer. You can connect with me at www.JoGarner.com. Our general topic is “LOOK YOUR BEST WITH A GOOD CREDIT SCORE FOR BUYING A HOUSE & STAGING YOUR HOME FOR SELLING OR STAYING.” If you have a question or comment and you’re on Twitter, make them to #JoGarner or call me directly off the show at (901) 482-0354. You can call us while we are live at (901) 535-9732 or outside the Memphis area (800) 474-9732 Today is December 3^rd, 2016.

Do you remember times in your life when you wanted to look your best? Like your high school prom or probably your wedding or a big job interview, or when it’s time to  apply for your mortgage? Today on Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe I will be sharing with you the inside scoop on how to look your best to get your mortgage approved and closed the quickest with the best mortgage rates. Jeff Ross and Heidi Ross of ShowHomes Memphis will share some of the latest tips for getting your house staged for the quickest sale at the highest price. We have the phone lines open for you to call us today while we are live to share YOUR story or questions.

Jeff and Heidi Ross of ShowHomes Memphis have just launched their book, Home Staging By The Book (Why Staging Works). They have won over twenty awards, including HFRA “Top 5 Home Staging Company in the nation for 2016.  Heidi is a Certified Professional Real Estate Stager with “The Decorating & Staging Academy”.  She is also one of only two people in Memphis and one of only five people in the state of Tennessee to hold the “Real Estate Staging Association-PRO” designation. Jeff is also a licensed Realtor with Kaizen Realty.  Welcome back to Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe, Jeff and Heidi! <Jeff and Heidi have about 1 minute or so to introduce themselves and whatever they want to say about what they do. >

• (Jo) The mortgage market has definitely been taking front stage this week, along with all of the economic predictions for 2017.   It sure sounds like a Federal Reserve rate hike is waiting in the wings this month.  Ms. Yellen, our Fed Chair, has said that if inflation truly takes place in 2017 then she plans to raise the Fed rate multiple times if needed in response to inflationary pressures.   If you want to look good and feel good about your home loan in 2017 and you have a variable rate mortgage or home equity line, now might be a great time to get that financing converted to a fixed rate mortgage.  Let’s talk about YOUR financing and how to get it where you want it.  Conventional 30 year fixed rates closed the week out at around 4.125% TO 4.25% and the 15 year fixed rates came in around 3.375% to 3.5%. Rates vary according to several different factors.    Call me personally now while we are live in the studio at (901) 535-9732  or after the show at (901) 482-0354 (901) 482-0354 or email me at jo@192.232.195.219 But you have to talk with me personally to work with me personally.  I want to personally work with YOU.

< Heidi made comments here –>

 (Jo) Okay, picture this—you found a great deal on a house you want to buy or you have an opportunity to refinance the home you have toMUCH better terms or even some cash-out.   Your mortgage is one of the largest loans you pay and you want bragging rights on the best terms, right?  Okay here’s an inside scoop on how the mortgage approval software works. Most people who call me for a mortgage mistakenly think that the most important thing to do to prepare for getting the best terms on  a mortgage approved is to pay off credit card debts. They will call me all excited, “Hey Jo, I’m ready to apply for my mortgage. I went out last week and paid off all my credit cards.”    Sigh… they just shot themselves in the foot.  It’s fixable though.  The highest priority for mortgage software programs is the amount of money showing in the borrower’s bank account for down payment and reserves. Also a top priority is the credit history and credit score.  A great score is one over 740. An average score is around 650 to 680. A marginal score is 620 to the mid 600’s. The least important aspect of the profile for the underwriting software is your debt-to-income ratio. In fact paying off and closing credit card accounts using the credit scoring algorithms for the mortgage industry can HURT your credit score.   Consult with a reputable, experienced mortgage officer BEFORE you make any adjustments to your finances and debts. It only takes a few minutes to get a full credit profile in front of us. It only takes another couple of minutes to lay out a plan that will keep your credit scores looking the best so you can enjoy the lowest mortgage rate.  You can connect with me at www.JoGarner.com or call me directly at (901) 482-0354. IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY, LET’S DO IT TODAY!

<Heidi shared a common myth in home staging and related a story of a customer who thought it would be better for her to list her house for sale without staging it first.  After having it on the market for 30 days during the peak buying season without any interested buyers, Jeff and Heidi staged the house and it sold within 30 days at a higher price than the previous listing price. The return on investment to this client was very good.  Maybe her return on investment would have been even better if she had staged the home before listing it the first time during the peak buying season?]>

(Jo) A minute ago I shared with you some mistakes people make right before they go see their mortgage officer. On the other hand, here are some things you CAN do before you talk to a mortgage loan officer that will HELP you get the mortgage terms you want quicker.  Before you apply for your mortgage online or talk with a mortgage loan officer, look at your income and your last few months bank statements and credit card statements.  What is your net income?  What are you really spending each month—and don’t forget those once a year bills you have to pay like car tags and insurance and items like that.  Now, what is the maximum house payment that you can comfortably afford?   That is what you need to tell your loan officer.   How much money can you comfortably put down on a house and still have your emergency funds?  Buy a house with mortgage terms that you will ENJOY paying each month.

Jeff and Heidi, you have some great tips for people who want their home to look the best so they can sell quickly and for the highest price. Please share with us—what works for home staging? <Jeff and Heidi launch their topic until 9:15 break>

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^2nd segment after 9:15 break: Our Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest is brought to you  by notable Memphis historian, Jimmy Ogle. Jimmy Ogle offers free historic walking tours downtown in the spring and fall.  For information about Jimmy Ogle, go to www.JimmyOgle.com .  The Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest is  sponsored by John and Jennifer Lawhon of Lawhon Landscape (901) 754-7474 the Lawhon’s can help you plan your landscaping if you have a BIG, BIG project or a smaller project . The Lawhons are giving away a $25 gift card to the first person with the correct trivia answer.  If you know the answer to our trivia question, call us at 901 535 WREC 901 535-9732.]

[Trivia Answer: ]  American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

TRIVIA QUESTION:  I was founded in Memphis by a very famous entertainer.  Who am I?

Hint:  I opened my doors in 1962.

Hint:   I was the first integrated hospital in Memphis.

Hint:  There is a large running event this weekend raising funds and awareness for my operations and services.

Final Hint: I am the “true miracle of Memphis”.

Answer: ALSAC. The American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities is the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Its sole mission is to raise the funds and awareness necessary to operate and maintain St. Jude.  ALSAC is the third largest healthcare related charity in the United States. The National Executive Office is located in Memphis, Tennessee. ALSAC also has over 30 local fundraising offices located in cities throughout the United States that hold over 30,000 fundraising events annually.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital opened in Memphis in February, 1962 and was the first integrated hospital in Memphis, as it received all patients regardless of race, creed, color, nationality or ability to pay.  In that year, the success rate of curing catastrophic childhood diseases was about 4% with an annual budget of $1 million.  Today, the success rate is almost 90% and the cost is $2 million a day to operate the facilities.  No patient or family members pay for their travel, lodging, food or care while receiving treatment in Memphis. “No child such die in the dawn of his life” is a goal of St. Jude and ALSAC.  This weekend’s St. Jude Memphis Marathon will have over 20,000 participants from all over the world and raise over $10 million for the research and care of patients.
Jude Chikdrenn Street Station.
Jimmy Ogle gives free outdoor walking tours on the sidewalks and parks in Downtown Memphis during the Spring and Autumn of each year, with the next being the Judge D’Army Bailey County Courthouse Tour (indoors): one Thursday each month at 12:00 noon – the next being Thursday, December 15.  Go to jimmyogle.com for more information.

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY GUEST JEFF AND HEIDI ROSS

1. How to make more money at the closing table:

Your home must be marketed!  Marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry in this country because is proven to add value and awareness about a product when done correctly.  Marketing is multi-dimensional, and there is a huge difference between good marketing and bad marketing.  Marketing your home correctly will add value and create a greater appeal (and greater demand) for that home, thus a buyer will pay more for something that has greater desirability.

2. Marketing your home: 101. The do’s and dont’s

Examples like…

Do the required maintenance on the property.  Staging should not compensate for differed maintenance of a home although many buyers feel that a home is better maintained when it is staged.

Don’t forgo other good marketing activities in lieu of staging.  For example,  if you invest in staging a property, be sure to investing in great photographs of the property/staging too.

Don’t forget about staging for you nose as well as your eyes!  Make sure fragrances are not too powerful or cheap smelling.  Don’t bake cookies–this is a gimmic and buyers will think you are trying to cover up other issues.  If an odor is present, don’t try to cover it with another—this doesn’t work. Smoke smell or animal smell often has to be dealt with by replacing carpet or painting walls, and there are no shortcuts.

3. What staging is and what it is not.
   Staging is not just decorating. It specialized is a tool that is used to market a home for the real estate market which includes (but is not limited to) decorating, spatial planning, and flow configuration as well as the optimal utilization of a room.  It involves minimizing negative features of a home and maximizing positive features as well as recommendations for the home prior to placing it on the market for sale. These expert recommendations from a professional stager typically cover cleaning, de-cluttering, maintenance issues, neutralizing, lightening and brightening aspects of a home as well as what and where to spend (or not) resources on updates.  Staging is simply how to get the greatest return on investment in the shortest amount of time when selling a home.

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY JO GARNER:

1. What are some tricks to boost credit scores the highest in the least amount of time with the least amount of money out of the borrower’s pocket?
2. Keep your owed credit balances below 30%  of the total credit limit on each revolving credit account. Never allow the owed balance to go over 50% of the credit limit because this will actually drop your credit scores, even if you’re making the payment on time.  If you want to REALLY add some points to your credit score fast, keep the owed balances on your revolving accounts under 10% of the total credit limit.  Just make sure you don’t pay the credit card off because they may not report which will not give you the boost on your scores you want.
3. Make your payments on time. If you have collections, especially medical collections that the loan program is not requiring you to pay off, but companies that have been occasionally re-reporting to the bureaus that you owe them, then they are ticking time bombs waiting to drop your score after all the other work you have done to boost your scores and at  the crucial moment you need your loan approval.   You may want to contact these companies and set up a very small payment plan with the understanding they will not report anything else to the bureaus.

Jo calls a credit expert, Dan Sater, author of the book The 20 Top Toxic Credit Mistakes People Make And How To Avoid Them.  Dan shares some of the most recent insights on how to boost credit scores and avoid mistakes under the latest mortgage industry credit scoring algorithms. 

2. What are some other ways you can look your best on a mortgage loan application?
3. Other ways you can spiff up your mortgage loan file so that you are looking your best is to stay away from overdrafts on your bank statements. Right before you close, underwriters will want to see updated banking history.  Try to keep from making large deposits into your accounts other than payroll.  Loan regulations require that you show a paper trail documenting the source of large deposits.  Depending on the story behind the large deposit, it could cost you your loan or at least delay your closing while you document its source.
4. Don’t buy anything other than daily things you normally purchase while you are in the loan process. Right before you are ready to close, your report is checked again. If it appears that you bought a car or furniture or appliances or cosigned a loan for someone, this could cause your mortgage to be denied.   Whatever you do DO NOT open a 12 months same as cash account.  This can be a real deal killer and it can drop your credit scores 50 to 100 points.
5. My assistant, Susan Belew, and I have our own form that we go over with our clients to insure that they have the smoothest loan process possible and get to closing on time.  Connect with me and I am happy to go over it with you. You can find me at JoGarner.com

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REAL ESTATE TIP OF THE WEEK (Jeff and Heidi have about 1 to 1.5 minutes to share a real estate related money-saving or time-saving tip):

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Talk Shoppe offers free networking & education to anyone interested in real estate or in business. Talk Shoppe meets every Wednesday 9A-10A CT at the University of Phoenix 65 Germantown Center 1^st floor Cordova, TN.   This Wednesday December 7^th, 2015 Talk Shoppe  will be awarding YMCA Swim Scholarships to Colonial School students who have earned them by writing essays or creating posters about why learning to swim is important. Talk Shoppe events are free. Find out more about how to join us by going to www.TalkShoppe.com   If you have gift cards worth anywhere between $25 to $500 that you would like to donate for Talk Shoppe’s charity auction that funds the scholarships, please contact Lynn McDonald of Erin McDonald Insurance Agency (901) 849-7101.  If you get your donation in early enough, Talk Shoppe can give some publicity to your company.

Thank you to Mary Lou Nowak of  Mid-South Home Helpers for your support in making Talk Shoppe events free to the local business community. Mid-South Home Helpers provide non-medical assistance in the home, helping your loved one enjoy staying safely and comfortably in their own home.  (901) 414-9696.  www.homehelpershomecare.com

1. If you are in the Memphis area, head downtown to the St Jude Marathon benefiting St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Thank you to the marathon runners and marathon sponsors.
2. Jeff and Heidi Ross announce their upcoming class
3. FOR THIS PODCAST OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE AND MORE, GO TO JOGARNER.COM
4. Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe reminds you that MAKE YOUR PLAN. LET’S WORK YOUR PLAN. IF THE DEAL WORKS FOR YOU TODAY, DO IT TODAY.
5. SPECIAL NOTE: REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE RECOMMENDS THAT YOU CONSULT WITH A FINANCIAL, LEGAL OR OTHER CERTIFIED, LICENSED PROFESSIONAL BEFORE ACTING OR INVESTING ON ANYTHING YOU HEAR OR SEE FROM THE CONTENT ON THIS SHOW OR BLOG POSTS. THE INFORMATION WE SHARE ON REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE SHOPPE IS GENERAL IN NATURE MEANT FOR GENERAL EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.  (not spoken on the air)

QUOTE CORNER:

1. Anonymous “Being beautiful doesn’t make you happy. Being happy makes you beautiful.”
2. Anonymous “You can have whatever you want…If you dress for it.”
3. Heidi Ross shared this one, “Good staging is not cheap. Cheap staging is not good.”

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REJOINDERS: 

1. Bob Turner, Hair Stylist and Colorist with Gould’s Day Spa & Salon 107, 3670 S Houston Levee Rd, Collierville, TN 38017 Phone: (901) 854-8689
2. Kevin Yee, Save Energy Solutions stops bad air through leaky duct systems sesinfo.biz (901) 492-1649
3. Rita Connally, Personal Fitness Trainer at the Schilling Farms YMCA in Collierville, TN (901) 413-5298

Transitional Music: “Simply Irresistible”  by Robert Palmer;  “She’s A Beauty” by The Tubes;  “Call Me Maybe” Carly Rae Jepsen; “Memphis” by Johnny Rivers for Look Back Memphis Trivia Contest

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ABOUT JEFF AND HEIDI ROSS, SHOWHOMES MEMPHIS

Jeff and Heidi Ross are the franchise owners of Showhomes Memphis.  They stumbled into the home staging business when they sold their personal home in 2003.  The idea of business ownership as well as working together intrigued them.  Jeff’s entrepreneurial desires combined with his past experience in operations, sales, and marketing complimented Heidi’s passion for home interior decorating, and that combination made the home staging business a great fit. Heidi was awarded the very prestigious national Staged Home Award from the Home Staging & Redesign Association

Jeff and Heidi met while attending college at Oral Roberts University.  They have been married for over twenty years and they are the proud parents of two teenage children. Their daughter, Bailee, is a junior at Briarcrest Christian School and their son, Parker, is a freshman at First Assembly Christian School.  The Ross’s are active members of Life Church Memphis and serve as Service Pastors at the Collierville campus.

As a teenager, Heidi constantly re-arranged her mother’s home and furnishings, painted anything, re-finished furniture, re-designed clothes, and frequently re-invented her physical surroundings.  Meanwhile, Jeff grew up with a profound desire to manage or become a business owner and has always enjoyed creating systems and maximizing the talents of others.  Together, Jeff and Heidi enjoy helping others by creating value for sellers.

Over the past twelve years, ShowHomes Memphis has  won over twenty awards, including HFRA “Top 5 Home Staging Company in the nation for 2016. Jeff and Heidi also won “Franchise of the Year” award in 2007.  To date, Heidi and her team have staged over $143 million dollars in real estate.  Jeff and Heidi have personally lived in and cared for seventeen homes. Heidi is a Certified Professional Real Estate Stager with “The Decorating & Staging Academy”.  She is also a Real Estate Staging Association certified instructor.  Jeff is also a licensed Realtor with Kaizen Realty.

Jeff and Heidi are certified members with the Home Staging & Redesign Association and they are both Certified Update and Color Specialists with Showhomes.  Their company is a preferred vendor with Crye-Leike Home Services, a BOLD sponsor with Keller Williams, and a proud supporter of the Memphis Dream Center.

To contact Jeff or Heidi, you may visit their website at www.ShowhomesMemphis.com  or you may also go to their Facebook page, Showhomes Memphis Home Staging. (901) 361-7419

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ABOUT JO GARNER-MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER:

www.JoGarner.com    (901) 482 0354  jo@192.232.195.219  twitter @jogarner 

Jo describes her job description: “As a mortgage loan officer, my job is to give my client the benefits they want from their financing terms– listening to my client and determine what’s of the most value to THEM–  What is their comfort level on a house payment, how much are they comfortable paying down, what type of financing do they need to get the house they want to buy or refinance. Different clients have different priorities in life—some are buying their first home with very little down payment funds.  Some are recovering from medical challenges, divorces or preparing to send children to college and some are embarking on a long term goal of buying properties to build rental income. Whatever their personal priorities are, my job is to put together a mortgage with comfortable terms that will help them achieve their goals.”

Jo Garner is a mortgage officer with extensive knowledge in tailoring mortgages to her customers who are refinancing or purchasing homes all over the country.  She offers conventional, FHA, VA or other loan programs for refinancing and purchases.

Jo can help you look at rent vs buy, when it makes sense to refinance, how to get the best deal on your home  purchase financing.

Jo Garner  has been in the real estate/financing business for over 20 years.  She got her start in Portland, Maine where she first began her real estate career. She received her real estate education from the University of Southern Maine  and was personally mentored in San Diego, California  by Robert G. Allen, author of Nothing Down, Creating Wealth and The Challenge.

On moving back to West Tennessee in 1987, she went into business buying and selling discounted owner-financed notes secured on real estate.  In 1990 Jo went to work for a residential mortgage company and has been a mortgage loan officer for over 20 years.  Her goal is to offer excellent, affordable service to her customers, tailoring the loan programs to the specific needs of her clients.

In addition to her work in the mortgage field, Jo Garner  is the primary sponsor and founder of Talk Shoppe in Memphis. www.TalkShoppe.com  She was also the editor of Power Shoppe, a free weekly e-zine designed for real estate professionals and others indirectly connected to the real estate industry and currently publishes on her blog www.JoGarner.com